this afternoon, house and senate leaders met with president obama at the white house. they talked for about an hour. afterwards president obama said he was modestly optimistic. by passing house speaker john boehner who has had trouble getting his fellow republicans to agree to anything, the president called on senate majority and minority leaders harry reid and mitch mcconnell, to lay out a deal. >> if we don't see an agreement between the two leaders and the senate, i expect a bill to go on the floor. and i have asked senator reid to do this. put a bill on the floor that makes sure that taxes on middle class families don't go up. that unemployment insurance is still available for two million people. and that lays the ground work for deficit reduction and economic growth steps that we can take in the new year. but let's not miss this deadline. >> as for the leaders they sounded a bit more hopeful than the president. >> i think it was a very positive meeting. there was not a lot of hilarity in the meeting. everyone knows how important it is. it is a very serious meeting